5:45 a.m. Alarm goes off - in my head I can't remember for the life of me what day it is and what I have to do so dang early.
6:00 a.m. Breakfast - sausage and veggie frittata and coffee.
6:15 a.m. Glad its not raining - leave for race.
6:45 a.m. Dropped off at start - no nerves for probably the first time ever. Excited to just do my thing and not compete with the clock and with my head.
7:00 a.m. Horn goes off - it sort of malfunctioned and made an odd noise. We all laughed which made starting the race even less nerve-wracking.
7:15 a.m. Foot is feeling great and I'm staying right with the 3:35 marathon pace group. Its a very comfortable pace for me - we stay between 7:45 and 8:12.
7:30 a.m. See a few coworkers which makes my day.
8:15 a.m. Stomach hurts - must find port-o-potty stat! A few minutes later ... mission accomplished.
8:30 a.m. I hit mile 11 and the foot starts to speak to me - its not very happy we are still running.
8:45 a.m. This hill at mile 12.5 sucked last year. It still sucks this year. It sucks less because I am encouraged by another small blond who is barreling up it like a rock star. We encourage each other and others. It feels better to encourage others when your body is screaming at you to stop for the love all things holy.
8:48 a.m. So many supporters line the road I can't help but smile and run with gusto as I cross the finish line. Knowing my best friend and her family are going to be there cheering me on will always make me smile as well.
1:48. I'm happy with that. I know some day I will get under 1:45, and I also knew this was not the day. More training needed, more speed work out needed, less foot pain, and all will be well.
Content.
